The paper describes and assesses three Norwegian innovation policy tools. The tools cover three different models of strengthening firms' innovation capability, i.e. direct financial support, broker and advisory systems and technology or knowledge centres. The tools include some new elements in...

New research indicates that firms combining the science-based STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) and the experience-based DUI (Doing, Using, Interacting) modes of innovation are more efficient when it comes to improving innovation capacity and competitiveness. With regard to innovation...

This paper examines the actors and activities and the institutional--spatial dynamics that characterize innovation and knowledge processes within the aquaculture industry and its support organizations in the coastal region of Quebec, Canada. It aims to identify the main features and components...

The paper argues that no single formula exists for how universities can stimulate innovation activity and industrial development in a particular region. The type of university--industry cooperation must be fined-tuned according to the knowledge base of the university and to the dominant mode of...

The creative class thesis put forward by Florida [(2002a) The Rise of the Creative Class and How it's transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (New York: Basic Books)] has in recent years been subject to vivid debate and criticism. This article applies the creative class thesis...

The idea of constructing regional advantage (CRA) has recently been emphasized by scholars as a new way for firms to gain competitiveness in a globalizing learning economy. The rationale behind the idea is that advantages in a regional industry can be constructed by proactive public--private...

The notion of path dependent regional industrial development has recently received increasing attention in economic geography, innovation studies and related fields. A core idea is that pre-existing industrial and institutional structures constitute the regional environment in which current...

The paper examines the reasons for the clustering of Norwegian software firms in Oslo. The analysis focuses on how software firms perform individual activities and how they interact with other players in performing the activities. The clustering of software firms in Oslo rests first of all on...